Mission accomplished!

Started: 2009-07-29 21:11:25

Submitted: 2009-07-29 21:49:35

Visibility: World-readable

When Calvin turned four months on Sunday, Kiesa started ramping down
pumping breast milk to transition Calvin to pure formula until we start
introducing solid food sometime in the next two months. While we believe
breast milk is important, we've done everything we possibly could and
Kiesa was barely scraping by with a small fraction of Calvin's daily
nutritional requirements. After indulging in every mainstream,
alternative, and fringe therapy that presented itself, the time had
clearly come to make a strategic retreat. (As my father once said,
"That's not the mountain I want to die on.") Kiesa has already doing a
bit better; it's been strange to see Kiesa up past 20:00. (Earlier this
week I nearly beat her to bed.)

Any solution to my other ongoing challenge -- trying to balance
competing demands for self, house, and family on my weekends --
continues to elude me. At any given time, I can pick one, and I usually
end up feeling guilty for not picking one of the others. Last weekend I
spent most of Saturday doing useful things around the house; the weeds
were starting to develop intelligence and the lawn was about two weeks
overdue. (My shrub roses were also in desperate need of dead-head
removal of spent blooms, and the maple in the front yard continues to
encroach on the entry path.) I did most of the week's laundry Saturday
evening and surrounded myself in guidebooks trying desperately to find
some worthy mountain to find myself on. (Every time I think I have too
many maps and guidebooks out, I discover I need a couple more.) I
finally settled on the Sleepy Lion loop at Button Rock Preserve on
Sunday, returning in time for an afternoon grocery run.

I'd like to go hiking with Calvin, which might let me mix two of
my weekend objectives, but he's not yet old enough. (Calvin's
pediatrician wants to give him another two months to develop more neck
control before signing off on the backpack carrier.) In lieu of the
carrier, we have BOB,
which works great on flat trails -- whether paved or unpaved -- which
account for roughly 10% of the places I want to go. We have a pair of
Baby Bjorn infant carriers that we can carry Calvin in front, but it's
not clear how long he likes riding in the carriers.

I can only presume my weekends are going to get messy before they get
better.